Intraoperative venous air embolism in the non-cardiac surgery-the role of perioperative echocardiography in a case series report

Venous air embolism (VAE) is commonly one of the iatrogenic complications associated with divergent high-risk surgeries. In this case-series report, we presented a series of VAE cases in our institute during the last 6 consecutive years. There were total of nine cases suspected to be VAE according the clinical symptom and signs, of which seven cases were definitively diagnosed VAE using transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). We also reported two presumptive cases of paradoxical VAE during hepatectomy in this case series, furthermore, the cause, complications and hazards secondary to paradoxical VAE were discussed as well. All cases had an uneventful recovery from VAE with the assistance of TTE as well as other therapeutic management of VAE, except one neurosurgical patient died from postoperative hemorrhagic stroke per se. Therefore, VAE or paradoxical air embolism can occur during various non-cardiac operations and the significance of perioperative ultrasound should be emphasized in the treatment of VAE.